With All Due Respect
by Poisoned Scarlet
Summary: 'I confessed and she... thought I was kidding' In which Winry is fiercely jealous and Edward uses this knowledge wrongly.


**With All Due Respect  
by. **_Poisoned Scarlet_

**Summary: **_'I confessed and she... thought I was kidding?' _In which Winry is fiercely jealous and Edward uses this knowledge wrongly.**  
Rating: **K+ .**  
Genre: **Romance/Humor.**  
Pairing: **Ed/Winry.**  
Authors Note: **I'm not pleased with this piece but I don't like the idea of leaving a finished story sitting in my Documents. So, even if it's a little OOC and _weird_, I decided to simply post it and let at least _someone _enjoy it.**  
Story Notes: **_Post-Promised Day. _**  
**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

* * *

"I just don't know how you do it, Winry!" Nelly, a friend of her's, blew out a breath of frustration and sank back into the springy armchair.

"Do what?" she asked, distractedly. She flipped through another page in her magazine, leaning toward the article that spoke of new developments in the area of vehicles. It seemed that the Xingese were building their own models of automobiles and it intrigued the mechanic with just what methods they used to create some of the _very_ modern cars...

"Stay in the same house as Edward and Alphonse and _not _jump either of them!" Nelly stated, as if anything else would be ridiculous to say in that very moment.

Winry sharply looked up from her magazine.

"Nelly has a point, Winry!" Jennifer, another one of her friends, added. "I have no idea why Alphonse spent all his time in that heavy suit of armor!" She sighed dreamily. "He's...such a hottie!"

"And a gentlemen, too!" Nelly chimed in.

"And so kind and friendly!"

"And a good listener!"

"And his advice is _so _reliable!" Jennifer squealed, remembering an instant when she had been in a bitter mood from a rather harsh break up and Alphonse had bumped into her in the market, tangling her in conversation and able to adeptly resolve her issue without further harm. "It's only a bonus he's a looker!" She winked at Winry, who's frowned deepened a little more.

"Guys, I'm telling you the truth." Winry went back to her magazine. "Ed and Al don't bother me as much as you think they do. For crying out loud, I've known those two since we were in _diapers_!"

"So have we!" Nelly defended.

"Yeah, but you only hung out with them on certain occasions like the Sheep Festival and they stopped going to _that_ when they were ten!" She knew why, of course, but there was no reason to divulge _why_ to her two close, but rather distant, friends.

"We always spoke to them after school!" Jennifer protested.

"Spoke." Winry clarified. "_I_ always walked them back home and, after their mother passed away, they always hung out at my place. Eventually granny let them stay there." This, of course, was false: the two boys had spent the majority of their time in their dusty old house, locked in the basement, where they would attach themselves to an alchemy volume and only come out for dinner or school – rarely for play, as Edward adamantly refused to partake in such "childish games", as he had so coldly stated to her during her first few attempts at making them regain some of their lost childhood.

But the two girls didn't need to know that, either.

"We sometimes played with Edward!" Nelly suddenly said. "Remember? Hop Scotch?"

Winry snorted. "Only because he liked to trip you!"

Jennifer laughed at that. "Oh, I remember that! Didn't you actually punch him once?"

"He punched me back, remember _that_?" Winry replied sourly, recalling the swollen cheek she had acquired from his well-aimed punch and the nice shiner he had received by her for his mischievous ways. He had sincerely apologized while their grandmother patched them up and the small fight had been forgiven although he had been punished by his own mother at the time. She recalled having her scold him rather firmly: stating that Winry was still a girl and girl's needed to be treated with more respect than boys.

From therein, Edward had never laid a single finger on her.

"But Edward's always been another thing altogether!" Nelly insisted. "Have you seen him without a shirt, Jen? I saw him once out by the road – he was _wet_, too!"

"He likes to go to the river to swim!" Jennifer revealed, causing Nelly to lean in eagerly. Winry felt her fingers dig into the magazine cover. "I saw him once and I asked if he came there often and he said he did – something about the water being warm or something but whatever! We _so _have to go one of these days!"

"But I don't have a swimsuit!" Nelly complained.

"Who says we need one?" Jennifer leered.

"That's just gross, Jennifer!" Winry roughly said, hiding her scowl behind the magazine. "You'll only make him uncomfortable – Edward isn't the type to fall for such a cheap trick like that! Give him some more credit than that!" She knew she was twisting up her view on him for the worst: Winry had no idea how he'd react to a girl skinny dipping with him. For all she knew, he could very well allow—

Her scowl worsened.

She was starting to feel more and more annoyed by the conversation.

"Don't be such a spoil sport, Winry!" Nelly laughed. "No guy can resist a girl who's handing herself to him! Not even Edward!"

"Well, _I _think he can," Winry sharply replied. She lowered her magazine, fiercely shouting: "Just because the guys _you _both have dated are easily distracted doesn't mean Ed is! Don't judge him just because of his gender!"

"Jeez, calm down, Winry!" Jennifer giggled. "We were only kidding!"

She pursed her lips in reply. She didn't think it was funny at all.

"Yeah, no need to get so defensive." Nelly teased. "It's okay if you're a little jealous – we're _definitely _jealous of _you_!" Nelly sighed in yearn. "You get to spend all your time with the two most handsomest boys in Resembool right now and you aren't even taking advantage of it! Heck, if I were you, I would have jumped Edward already!"

"No way! Alphonse." Jennifer corrected, obviously smitten with the younger Elric.

"No _way_!" Nelly shook her head in disagreement. "Alphonse might be a gentlemen but Edward has all the _real _passion."

"I guess you're right..."

"Seriously. One time, he smirked at me!" Nelly squealed excitedly. "He's so _hot_..."

Winry couldn't concentrate on the text anymore. The conversation that kept bouncing back to Edward was starting to irritate her and now, instead of it being a relaxing talk about their hair or the latest fad, she was wishing she hadn't told Ed and Al she was spending some time with her friends. She would rather be arguing with Edward about whether or not he dented his calf plate again than listen to two hormonal _women _talk about Edward and Alphonse as if they were toy's that could be bought and played with.

"I'm surprised he _or _Alphonse aren't even taken yet." Jennifer curled her lips up coyly. "You would think guys like them would have girlfriends already or something..."

"Actually!" Winry cut in, curtly. "Alphonse _does _have someone he likes!"

"Really?" Nelly asked, curious. "Who might that be?"

Winry wracked her brain for something good. Only one name came up: "Mei!" She blurted. "I mean, her name is Mei Chang. He met her during one of his trips to Central..."

"Mei Chang?" Jennifer frowned, seemingly disliking the direction the conversation had veered to. "The name sounds foreign..."

"Yeah, it is. She's a native from Xing." Inwardly, Winry felt relieved. At least they had quit setting their sights on Edward—

"Well, I know for _sure_ Edward isn't taken!" Nelly added with mischief.

She had spoken too soon.

"He—!" She stopped. What could she say? Lying wouldn't prove anything: Nelly would probably hunt down the man himself and ask how things were going if she made up some lie. Edward wasn't one to drop things either: he went to the source and she didn't think she'd be able to lie her way out of his suspicions if Nelly did say something to him. "He's...I guess he is." She forced out, brows creased to show her trouble when Nelly grinned. "But don't you like Pitt?" She quickly said, hoping to somehow dissuade the girl from pursuing her own love interest.

Because someone would get out with a broken heart and it certainly wouldn't be _her_, if she had anything to say about it.

"Oh, _Pitt_." Nelly grumbled to herself, pouting sourly.

"They had another spat." Jennifer told Winry. "I think this time Pitt really did it – Nelly's never thought about dating anyone else while they're separated..."

"Who care's about Pitt? I don't!" Nelly declared, crossing her arms in stubbornness. "He's just a-a _jerk! _I bet Edward is _way _more polite than that moron!"

Winry couldn't help it: she laughed. The idea of Edward being more polite than Pitt, who always treated her like a lady even if she wore her mechanic jumpsuit with oil-smudged gloves, was ridiculous to even _think _about. "You have _no _idea how wrong you are! Ed's gotta' be the _rudest _guy I've ever met! Trust me on this one: he'll tell you what's on his mind without thinking about your feelings until _after _he's said it!" She snorted a giggle. "If he _remembers_, that is!"

Banging distracted the three girls.

"I'll get it!" Nelly said, walking towards the door.

Jennifer had her neck craned back, trying to glimpse the person who had knocked while Winry merely gave the front door one glance before going back to her magazine; somehow hoping her own input that Edward was about as smooth as sandpaper would dissuade both girls.

To her dull surprise, one flash of his toned stomach would erase all facts regarding his established _jerk _status.

"Winry, Den broke into the hag's stash of tobacco and made a mess on the floor!" Edward complained, as he came in with Nelly by his side. "Where does she buy her tobacco again? She might suffer heart failure if she finds out and I am _not _going to deal with her soul haunting me until my own end days!"

She would have no problem telling him _where_ had he been wearing a shirt. But he wasn't. He looked a little wind-blow, which would explain why he had forgotten his shirt: he was in a hurry, but it still peeved her that the two girls stealing looks at him every few seconds were doing it without any shame.

Even _Ed_ noticed, raising his brows when Nelly fixed her eyes on his tone abdomen.

"I'll do it." She rolled her magazine up tightly, managing to utter: "I'll see you two later." She waved goodbye and quickly grabbed Ed by the arm and pushed him out, intent on salvaging as much of his exposed body from shameless observance although she knew it was a little too late: Nelly and Jennifer had gotten their eyeful but Winry was adamant on it being their _last _for a long, long time.

"Whoa, wait up!" Ed yelped, trying keep pace with her as she had his arm in an awkward grip. "What's the big deal? I didn't go sniffing around granny's stash – that stuff stinks like burned newspaper!"

"I know, Ed." Winry briskly replied. "I'm not mad at _you_. Let's just go before granny gets back and finds out about the mess."

Her clipped tone only proved to make him frown deeper. "Then what's bothering you?"

"Nothing is bothering me!" She snapped, unable to control the amount of jealousy she felt as she digested the, now that she thought about it, inappropriate conversation about her dearest friends. She managed to clear Al from their radar but Ed was still in for the taking and it only made her bristle at the thought of girls trying to hit on Edward. "Let's just go buy her tobacco before she comes back and finds out! Den's done this before so she'd understand if we don't manage to cover it up quickly."

He didn't look convinced: she looked like she was seething. He would know: he'd seen the scrunched expression on her face more times than he'd like, mostly because he somehow managed to push her buttons or outsmarted her at her own game. The triumph was sweet but not worth it – not if she gave him a good whack to his membrane with her wrench. There were only so many hits his skull could take before she cracked it open!

"You don't have to go biting my head off!" He groused, "I was just _asking_!"

"Then _stop _asking!" She shouted over her shoulder, startling him. She didn't usually reply so aggressively. "And for god's sake, put a _shirt _on!"

Automatically, he defensively said: "What's wrong with not wearing a shirt? It isn't hurting anyone!"

She parted her lips to voice a vicious remark but instead swallowed it since she felt too scorned. Her retort would only provoke another huge argument and she _really _didn't need Ed walking away from her in a rage. Not without a shirt, at least! She let his arm go and continued her trek to the small store where her grandmother always bought her tobacco in silence.

Meanwhile, Edward eyed her rigid posture and twisted scowl warily.

He didn't know what had her so mad but he had a _clue_, as his eyes flashed down to his exposed torso. He had taken notice that she grew rather silent and annoyed when he walked outside without a shirt. It wasn't an often occurrence (he usually only walked around half-naked in the comfort of his own home) but when it did happen, be it because he had soaked his shirt by the river, sweated it wet or felt too lazy to put it on in the first place, she'd always get like _this_.

For a few days, it mystified him. But there wasn't a puzzle he couldn't crack or a riddle he couldn't solve yet so he let this simply become another one of his games. He observed her the first few days: how she acted _with _a shirt on inside the house and outside before switching it up and being shirtless _inside _the house while donning a shirt _outside._ When that got his anticipated results, he mixed things up a little more: coming back shirtless from the river, where he usually took a dip with Alphonse, if he was up for it, and critically observed her behavior when he didn't put it on even when he entered the house.

He would state it in two words:

Uncomfortable and irritated.

At first, these two emotions puzzled him. Why would she get uncomfortable when he didn't wear a shirt and why would she grow so irritated when he walked outside without said shirt? The answer had come to him during one of his evening walks with the dog, when he heard a couple walking toward the plains arguing about possessiveness and jealousy.

It all became so _obvious _to him he had stopped in his tracks altogether and swore.

Winry was either:

A.) Jealous of the women who (c'mon, he wasn't _that _dense) let their eyes linger on his built frame for more time than was considered necessary.

B.) Uncomfortable without him wearing a shirt because she held an attraction towards him.

C.) It simply made her feel uncomfortable to have a male walk around her far too exposed and she disliked men who walked around like nothing outside without a shirt.

D.) Answers A and B.

Or, finally:

E.) Answers C and A.

Logically, answer C had to be ruled out: Winry had walked around wearing a spandex _tube top, _of which she still wore on occasion, without any signs of embarrassment or shyness, meaning the idea of being partially naked didn't bother her. Also, he _always _had a penchant for walking around bare-chested and in his boxers since they were teenagers and she hadn't showed any of _those_ abnormal reactions back then. Thus, it meant to him, either she was hypocritical, which he firmly doubted, or it led him to answer B.

She felt uncomfortable around him shirtless because she held an _attraction_ toward him. He could back this up with evidence (although he was still kind of unsure of it even _counted_ as evidence) since she avoided all contact with him and tended to have a seemingly permanent flush on her face whenever he got too close to her – _shirtless. _The reaction was mostly same, to a lower extent, when he was fully clothed but he digressed.

Answer A was tricky but he managed to solve it easily enough once he gathered his scrambled thoughts. Jealousy was an emotion he had carefully dissected due to Envy. He had scrutinized every single 'deadly sin' in order to gain a better understanding of his enemy, so it wasn't a surprise that he managed to lock in on all the key signs of jealousy when he observed her the first few times in public (which was, for him, the times he had taken her out by the river, where a group of teenage girls tended to hang out in with their guy friends).

Answer E was automatically ruled out: he had established that C held no basis.

So, that left him with answer D: answers A and B.

The answer he _wanted _it to be, as they both walked into town. He noticed she slowed down some, allowing him to be in pace with her, but kept her eyes on the floor. Despite the fact that she was still no doubt pissed off, he couldn't help the half-grin that formed on his face.

The idea of seeing Winry _jealous _that other girls ogled him was far too amusing for him _not _to take advantage of.

"_Brother, you shouldn't treat Winry so crudely! She put up with you breaking your automail all these years so quit getting a rise out of her so much! One day, she'll actually get mad at you and not forgive you!" _Alphonse's warning voice came to him in that instant. He waved the words away. He wouldn't rile her up _that _bad! Just a little teasing – she handled his teasing really well, right?

"Y'know," Ed cockily started. "Your friends sure have no decency."

"Oh, yeah? Why would you say that?" She asked, somehow knowing, with a sink of her heart, what would come next.

"They couldn't keep their eyes off me!" He smirked, only more amused when he heard her grit her teeth. "Especially – what's her name again? The one with the brown hair?"

"_Nelly,_" Winry answered shortly.

"Right. Her." He snickered when she sped up her pace, entered the store, and stormed toward the counter. She ordered the tobacco crisply and glowered before the man could give her the usual warning that she was still too young to buy tobacco.

"Here you go, Winry," the old man muttered, sliding a bag of tobacco to her without further delay.

"Thanks! Have a nice day," she grumbled. She snatched the bag and tied it shut as she walked out, aware that Edward was curiously gazing at her from behind. She didn't know why he had begun to get so talkative but obviously he was interested in Nelly and Jennifer since he kept _talking about them _and _how utterly transfixed they were on his stupid, stupid body!_

It made her madder than mad – it _hurt _her. So she would admit that Nelly had a very nice and clean complexion and Jennifer's figure was to die for. These things didn't usually make her feel bad but when Edward was commenting on them, just as he was now, it crushed the little self-esteem she had in regards to him.

"With all due respect!" Winry suddenly cut him off, aware her hand was clenching the plastic bag deathly hard and her eyes were starting to sting. "If you're _so_ interested in them then _go ask them out _because I don't give two bolts for those two! They're just girls I hang out with because I spent too much of my time trying to keep you alive by updating your goddamn _automail_ to make other friends here! So, go ahead, milk it for all it's worth: I bet they'd make better friends than I would by the way you're all over them!" She ended on a bitter note, leaving him stunned in the middle of the road as she stormed back the house, intent on sweeping the mess Den had made even if Edward picked it up himself.

"Winry—!"

"I said, _go!_" She shouted over her shoulder, stubborn on not letting her tears start to trickle down her cheeks. "I'll take care of the mess Den made! Dinner'll be at six... don't be late." She increased her pace, heart heavy, but found it was futile because Edward wouldn't quit following her! She wished he would just _go_, prove her right: all those affectionate gestures were out of brotherly love, but at the same time she was relieved he wasn't leaving her to pick up the pieces of her crushed self-esteem.

"I'm sorry!" He said, grabbing her wrist tightly. "I shouldn't have said all of that – !"

"It's _fine._" She thickly replied. He paled: was she _crying_? "It's okay. It doesn't matter. It's not like you like me or anything." She tore her wrist from his.

"Winry, wait!" He pressed his lips together when she didn't stop and felt the start of panic well in his stomach. He must've taken his teasing too far and somehow managed to screw up whatever relationship they had built up to this point by the way she tore her hand from his – she'd never done _that _before. Why hadn't he listened to Alphonse again? Because he was an _idiot_, he inwardly begrudged. "Wait, I _do _like you!"

She jerked to a stop, turning to him in shock.

His words registered in his frazzled brain. "N-no, wait!" He stuttered, face flushing. "I didn't mean it like that—well, no, but—it doesn't even matter! Forget I ever said that!" He hastily tried to cover up his mistake. "I didn't mean anything I said – I was just kidding! I don't even like them. It's a relief you're not really friends with him..." He laughed nervously, her stare starting to unnerve him. Had he really blown his cover that badly? He would say so. "Uh, that girl. Nelly, was it?"

"Yeah.."

"To be quite honest with you, she kinda' freaks me out with her stares..." He abruptly let her wrist go, regressing to his childish gesture of rubbing the back of his neck when things got tough. "I should probably be more grateful that you spent all that time modifying my automail... Thank you, even though it's too late." He lowered his eyes. "And, you're wrong. They wouldn't make better friends than you. In fact, no one would. You're probably the only person other than Alphonse who can knock just the right amount of sense into me when things go bad... and you're also the only other person I know who can put up with me," he admitted, rather sheepishly.

Her lips turned upwards in a smile, warming the previously frigid mask she had slipped on.

"It's still okay, you know." She said, shifting the bag into her other hand. "You can still go if you want."

"Didn't I already tell you I don't like them?" He frowned. Had she tuned him out again? He _hated _when she did that!

"I know, but," she shrugged, helplessly, "that doesn't mean you can't like them or anything."

_Jealousy can drain to acceptance, _he remembered, testily. _I better fix this! _"But I don't even _like _them!" He yelled, exasperated. "Quit tuning me out and _listen_, woman!"

"I'm not tuning you out – I'm not _you_, remember?"

He scowled. "Then stop trying to get me to go with them! It was a _joke_! I don't even like them, I like—!" He stopped abruptly. His eyes flashed to her's, a strange sort of panic in them, and she had half a mind to goad him for laying such a heavy joke, if she could even call it a joke, on her.

"Like who?" She would admit: revenge was sweet. His face was growing hot – she could see the red spread down his neck.

"No one..." he mumbled.

"It sounded like _someone_." Winry sneered, chest acutely tight the more she breathed. "Does Ed have a crush on a _girl_?" She laughed when his face became even redder. "Jeez, you're really unbelievable! Poor girl!"

"What do you mean by _that_?" He sharply asked.

"Well," she began, slyly. "For one, you've got to be the worst house guest _ever_! And you eat like a starving dog! You'd make that girl run for her money if you ever got around to confessing!" She decided to take it a step further: hadn't he done that with her, anyway? "That is, if you even _can_."

His anger spiked, pride wounded. "I could confess anytime I want, you know!"

"Really? Then how come you haven't done it yet?"

"None of your business!" _Wait, _he realized. _I technically DID say it!_

"What're you waiting for?" Winry fiercely challenged. "The longer you wait, the farther away she'll leave you. But I forgot: you're too much of a _dork _to actually tell her!" She wasn't sure of whom they were arguing about, definitely not her although his previous shout kept resonating in her head. All she knew was that payback was infinitely sweet and she was feeling better now that she knew Ed had no interest in Nelly or Jennifer.

"Oh, yeah? Then how about we settle this one and for all!" He proposed gruffly, taking a deep breath: "I like _you_! There! I said it!"

The wisp of hope in her stomach squirmed and grew. He hadn't been kidding that time, she realized with her heart thudding in her ears.

"Wh-what did you just say?" she whispered, stunned by the admission.

"You heard me! I like you!" He huffed. He crossed his arms over his chest in defiance. The silence that followed grew awkward and it was then, once the spike in his anger cooled, that he realized what he had just spit out into the open. In all honesty, it wasn't suppose to come out that way. But Winry knew better than to go poking on his ego – that only encouraged him _more _to prove her wrong. And prove her wrong he had, he thought, color draining from his face.

He just _admitted _he liked her!

Out loud.

To _her_.

Three times...

_What did I just do? _He asked himself in horror. _Again?_

He expected something along the lines of nervous laughter, avoiding his eyes and taking a step back – perhaps even looking disturbed by the admission – but all he got was a pretty smile that was immediately followed by laughter; a far more sweet laugh than the rough sound he had received earlier.

"Wh-what're you laughing at?" Ed choked out, in embarrassed confusion. "Hey! I asked you a question!"

"You're such a dork!" Winry laughed, muffling her laughter with her hand. "I don't know what you were trying to pull but you sure played a number on me!" She giggled at his incredulous expression, adding happily: "It sure cheered me up though! Thanks!"

_Cheered—I cheered her up? _He thought in disbelief. _I confessed and she...thought I was KIDDING? _He didn't know whether to feel insulted or relieved. But for some reason he felt more hurt by her laughter. "..I wasn't..."

"We should probably get going!" Winry smiled, pivoting on her heel.

He started after her, shouting: "No, I—!" _wasn't kidding!_

Winry stopped abruptly and turned, raising one finger at him. Edward halted and stared, unable to understand what she was doing as she merely stood in front of him. She was staring directly back at him, transfixing him in place, before a small smile broke her face again and she gently touched his cheek, causing the pink that had flushed on his face to grow fiercer.

_What's she up to? _He asked himself, her smile making his face – as well as his anger – grow hotter. _Damn it, what's the big deal? What is she—!_

"Granny said I get to choose what we eat today for dinner." She told him, softly. Her hand stroked his cheek. "How about some stew? I'll even add some extra meat, what do you say?"

"What do I...say?" he repeated, searching her eyes for something to hint him of her intentions. There was something stopping him from insisting he wasn't kidding, something about the way her eyes bore into his own almost knowingly.

Then he noticed how pink her own cheeks were, how the smile on her face wasn't mocking or pitying but shy and timid. How, as she continued to cup his cheek, he could feel her hand trembling.

He didn't know why she was ignoring his confession. But he knew it wasn't because she didn't feel _something (_her hand on his cheek _proved _this!) but rather...

_She..isn't ready? _He concluded in surprise. The edge of his mouth twitched as he restrained a crooked grin and he averted his eyes from her's with a sigh. _Jeez, when she get so cute?_

"Stew sounds...nice." He answered after a few more seconds of silence. His hand rose, grabbing her own and, after a slight pause, lowering it from his cheeks and back to her side where it belonged. He finally allowed a soft smile to grace his face. "Y'know, if you were this pleasant every day then maybe I wouldn't mind having you around more often."

"...YOU JERK!" Winry shrieked in outrage, about to reach into her back pocket to pull out her trusty wrench, when his hand ruffled her hair fondly. The action made her stop, shorting her anger instantly.

"Then again, you always had a knack for making things interesting," he commented, almost thoughtfully, before jerking a thumb down the road. "C'mon, we're gonna' be late for dinner! I bet Al's dying for something to eat! He has to eat twice as much as we do, remember? Make sure to give him an extra big helping of stew!" He grinned at her, fingers threading through her silk crown of hair gently.

Winry pursed her lips, looking down timidly. She hid her shyness with a loud: "Of course I'll remember! You're the one who's always eating his seconds, you know!"

"I am not!"

"You did it yesterday!" She pointed out.

"Only because he looked like he wasn't gonna' finish it!" He argued.

"That's 'cause he hadn't finished his _first _plate, you dipstick!"

"You—!" Ed puffed his cheeks before exhaling a deep breath, scowling as he turned away from her. She missed his hand on her head instantly. "Let's just _go._ You can verbally assault me once we're at home and you fed Al and me!"

"Is food all you ever think about?" Winry asked in exasperation.

He side-glanced her, the scowl lifting into a small smile. "About thirty percent of the time, yeah."

Suspiciously, she asked: "What's the other seventy percent?"

His smile grew into a wide grin that made her flush a darker pink. "Wouldn't _you _like to know? You're so nosy, too!"

"I AM NOT!"

"And _loud_."

"I wouldn't be talking if I were you – you're so loud I bet all of _Xing _can hear your screams!"

"Don't be ridiculous! That's physically impossible!"

"Don't go throwing your crazy science into this!" She warned.

"What's gonna' stop me? You're obviously skewed _view _on physical science? It's debatable." He baited her a smug smirk.

They bickered the rest of the way home, ignoring the fact that they were walking far too close to one another and Winry's smile had yet to disappear.

* * *

**A/N: **I've got some news for you all: Soul Eater has been grasping my attention recently. I'm probably going to end up writing something stupid about Soul and Maka. But fear not! Fullmetal Alchemist will always be my one and only true love :D

Review!

_Scarlett._


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